KOTA KINABALU: Two crew members of the Navy combat boat CB204 that went missing on Sunday, were airlifted to the Sepanggar naval base late yesterday.
Navy Region II commander Datuk Rosland Omar said Christopher Mani, who was suffering from a stomach ailment, and Steve Hudson Miso, who sustained electrical shock, were flown to the base at 6.13pm.
He said the two were immediately rushed to the base hospital where they were undergoing treatment.
Rosland said the families of both crewmen were with them at the hospital.
Earlier at a press conference, the commander confirmed that the other five crew members who were stranded at Mengalum waters since Sunday were expected to arrive at the Sepanggar naval base here between 11am and 7pm today.
They are Azri Bakar, Ince ak Evin, Nor Azuan Ariffin, Sulhajji Daah and Mohd Azhry Maani.
Rosland said the CB204 was being towed back to the Sepanggar naval base by KD Ganas and escorted by KD Lekiu.
“KD Ganas will be towing CB204 while KD Lekiu is transporting two crew members who are not feeling well after suffering and sustaining minor health issues.
“Christopher ak Mani suffers from minor gastritis, while Steven Hudson ak Miso suffers minor injuries,” he said.
At press time he said all three vessels (including CB204) were at 114 nautical miles from Kota Kinabalu and were expected to arrive safely at the Sepanggar naval base as early as 11am on Wednesday.
“If weather permits, they will arrive by 11am tomorrow (today), but if the weather is not to our favour, we can expect them to arrive by 7pm the same day.
“At the moment, the towing of CB204 is moving smoothly but all three vessels are facing bad weather due to strong winds between five to six knots/miles per hour with waves as high as 2.5 meters,” he said.
Rosland added that family members of the crew members had been notified of their arrival.
CB204 was on its way to Layang Layang when it lost contact with its escort ship, KD Paus, about 11.15am on Sunday.
It had left the Kota Kinabalu RMN base at 5am on Sunday for its turn of duties with another vessel on operation at the Gugusan Semarang Peninjau, Pulau Layang-layang, when it lost radio communication with the escort vessel KD Paus at 11.15am.
The combat boat was, however, detected to be at 30 nautical miles east of Pulau Layang-Layang at 4.15pm and 50 nautical miles east of Pulau Layang-Layang at 7.12pm.
The search-and-rescue operation for the combat boat involved the RMN, Royal Malaysian Air Force and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency after another RMN vessel KD Ganas managed to intercept the emergency call through the maritime radio.
Mohammad Rosland said such an incident was normal in their profession as members of the security forces and it gave valuable lessons and experience to the crew.
He said family members of the CB204 crew would be brought to the RMN base here to welcome them home today.